One easy way to reduce ransomware risk

Risk managers who teach employees what suspicious email looks like can drastically reduce the risk of being hit with ransomware.

Posted on Canadian Underwriter | By Greg Meckbach

Ransomware is when criminals hack into computer systems, encrypt files and demand a ransom from the computer owners to decrypt those files.

A lot of ransomware comes with “emails that look suspicious,” Elissa Doroff, XL-Catlin’s vice president of underwriting and product manager for technology and cyber liability, said in an interview.

Training a worker not to open a file attached to an email with the .exe extension is one way to reduce ransomware risk, Doroff advised. Another is to make sure that all software is updated with the patches provided by software vendors.